VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- The Church in Cuba has distributed 30,000 copies of the addresses delivered by Pope John Paul II during his January visit to that island nation. And the demand for copies of the Pope's remarks remains unsatisfied. Photocopies of the Pope's addresses have been distributed by dozens of Catholic agencies, and yet the demand has consistently outstripped the supply.

      Father Alberto Barrios, OFM, told the Vatican news agency Fides that the Franciscan monastery of St. Dominic at Guanabacoa, near Havana, had produced 300 copies of the addresses, but found that number "absolutely insufficient" to cover the demand in a town of 37,000 people; "they disappeared before my eyes," he reported.

      The collection of the Pope's public talks "could change our society," Father Barrios said. He reported that teachers have read the talks to students in schools, while in universities they have become the subjects for seminar discussions, and hospitals have also put together discussion groups for medical personnel. "To hear the word 'freedom' said with such spontaneity, to hear the proclamation of Jesus Christ in the streets-- it is something which has changed us," he said.

April 7, 1998 volume 9, no. 69         DAILY CATHOLIC